Region IV Vice President Struck on Reentry Plans

Things continue to evolve rapidly, but we are clearer on the upcoming expectations for “reentry” and I want to share some expectations and next steps with you.

Here are some key points to keep in mind:

1. As we have heard through multiple messages from DOT and FAA leadership, with the waning of COVID, the time for some type of return to facilities is rapidly approaching. In AVS, April 18 is the planned date to start the return to facilities and begin transitioning to what the agency has called “new work schedules.”
2. Policy Bulletin 112, which authorized employees to participate in maximum telework, will be rescinded effective April 25. When that occurs, all employees will need to be accounted for either in an FAA facility (or leased space), on a formal telework agreement, on approved leave, or accounted for consistent with agency policy (training, travel, etc.).
3. If you look to the guiding principles on the FAA Future of Work website, you’ll see that the office is not the default place where work is accomplished. 

The workforce overall has proven since March 2020 that we can accomplish work that is not necessarily tied to a specific location. There are near infinite possibilities and situations for how (and where) work is to be accomplished based on individual interests and needs. Now is the time to start discussing with your immediate supervisor what your interests are. Discuss expectations with your leadership team for how often you envision in-person attendance at your facility. This is a chance for your leadership team to listen to you. It’s up to you to be clear on what you need to help guide that conversation.

There is policy in development amending some definitions of telework and creating new terms encompassing “remote work.” We are in the process of negotiating those policies to best provide clear and measurable standards and ensure fair and consistent application of those policies throughout the bargaining unit.

However, that work isn’t complete and for now, we must rely on current policy and our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for reentry. One way that the agency intends to ease the transition to these new policies is to have everyone help identify what type of telework they wish to have moving forward. The telework options available at the current time, which apply to a majority of our workforce, are routine, situational, conditional or none.

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Here are some things to keep in mind as you approach a conversation with your manager:

• • Are you ready to come back to the facility full time?
  • Would you prefer to telework to the maximum extent possible?
  • Is your work conducive to hybrid or mobile work?
  • Is there a business reason for you to be physically present at a facility and/or does your work require physical presence at a specific location, worksite or office?
  • Are there projects you work on that would benefit from consistent in-person engagement?
  • Do you have health concerns that affect you or someone in your household, or you require other accommodations to minimize your exposure to COVID?
  • What are the locality pay implications to you or the agency by working from a particular location?
  • Will your interests impact the determination of your locality pay?

Remember that telework is an employee driven decision, requested through and approved by management. Once maximum telework ceases, management cannot force you to telework. Under our current CBA, employees should request the telework arrangements they are looking for and the agency should respond to any such requests in accordance with Article 51 of the CBA.

Below are some common requests based on our knowledge of what category most employees will land using current policy. The agency is requesting employees submit these agreements for administrative purposes. We understand the agency’s direction (in some cases) may be at odds with established policy; we are addressing these concerns. Please put a summary of your telework discussions in writing so you can document what is agreed upon.

• If your Official Duty Station (ODS) is your home as indicated on block 39 of your SF-50, and you wish to continue your arrangement to work full time from home, you will submit a conditional telework agreement for approval. We expect these submissions will be approved.
• If your ODS is not your home but another FAA facility and you normally worked full time from home as a teleworker, you will submit a conditional telework agreement for approval. We expect these submissions will be approved.
• Do you have concerns about how your locality pay might be impacted? Current policy requires attendance in your ODS (which determines your locality pay) at least two times per pay period. Normally that means reporting to your assigned FAA facility, but mobile work in the same reporting area could count toward that requirement. If you have those types of concerns and it’s going to take some time to figure out what the next steps are, submit a conditional telework agreement for approval.
• If you wish to telework on a regular, recurring basis adhering to the same telework schedule each pay period, you will submit a routine telework agreement for approval. (For example, you want to telework every Monday and Tuesday and come to the office on your other scheduled days.)
• If you would rather utilize telework on an ad hoc basis, you will submit a situational telework agreement for approval. (For example, you prefer to accomplish most of your work in the office but occasionally want to request telework to focus on a project or to complete eLMS assignments.)
• If you don’t wish to telework upon reentry, you will discuss that with your frontline manager and you will not submit a telework agreement.

Some of you were displaced during the last few years as several leases were not renewed and facilities were vacated. In some instances, the FAA has yet to identify where to place you. It’s extremely important you make it known whether you want to return to a facility so they can allocate the appropriate space for you and your equipment.

PASS has been actively discussing the reentry process with management. We have encouraged the agency to see that conversations between employees and frontline managers take place as soon as possible. In our exchanges, the FAA has acknowledged that these conversations can be challenging and that a balance of an individual’s wants and needs on one side and the mission of the agency on the other must be considered.

We expect that if a management team is conducting all-hands meetings to discuss these topics with your work unit, PASS will be invited. If you wish to have a PASS rep participate in your individual conversation with your frontline manager, let your rep know and advise your frontline manager so they are aware. You have the right to have a union rep with you. These conversations should not be contentious and both the AVS and Flight Standards New Work Schedules handbooks provide expectations for management to encourage active listening, engage with a mutual learning mindset and focus on interests, not positions, to reach agreed actions. 

Other policies related to return to facilities either have been negotiated or are still being developed such as: mask use in facilities, testing of employees, how to handle suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, and plans for how to deal with possible future surges in cases which could require a return to maximum telework.

If you have additional concerns, we encourage you to report those online via our coronavirus concern form. Since the start of the pandemic, those forms have been forwarded to the appropriate PASS personnel (leadership, legal, safety) and then with personal information redacted, they have been shared with FAA leadership for awareness and action.

If there is something we haven’t addressed here, please email us.

Be safe; stay well!

Ben (& the Region IV Team)
Email the team
www.passnational.org